Google Assistant

Google Assistant is the smart personal assistant designed by Google. This artificial intelligence voice software lets you control various actions on your smartphone using your voice instead of your fingers. The principle is the same as Apple's Siri assistant and Amazon's Alexa, i.e. responding to requests and performing tasks using the information on your smartphone or on the internet.

The main benefit of a voice assistant is the voice control feature, which lets you control your phone. This is practical if you want to keep your hands free, for example if you're driving or on public transport. This means you can use your journey time to make progress on various online tasks or simply find a route or address without taking your eyes off the road. Headphones that have a special button even allow you to use your mobile without taking it out of your pocket!

What can you ask your voice assistant?

Think of it as a personal assistant plus artificial intelligence: it helps you, answers your questions and performs requested searches and actions for you. Below are a few examples of useful everyday actions:

• Interacting with your contacts

By simply giving a verbal command, the assistant can send an SMS or message on instant messaging. It can also send an email or call a contact. You just have to say the task you want to be carried out: "Call Peter", "Send an email to mum to wish her happy birthday". The assistant finds the person's details in your contact list and takes care of the rest.

• Running searches

Do you need to find something out? Just ask the assistant what you're looking for and it will find the answer on your phone or using the Google search engine. Whether you want a route or map, a definition or translation, tomorrow's weather, the train times or the results of a football match, it will run the search for you and give you the answer. This is very practical for finding out what's on at the cinema, the address of a restaurant or what time the last bus leaves. You can also ask it to find the name of an artist, a date in history, a recipe or any other general subject to do with culture.

• Reading the news

Do you want to keep up with current events on your smartphone in hands-free mode? By entering your news sources into the assistant's settings, all you have to do is ask it what you're interested in: the latest news, specific updates (sports, the economy, etc.) or news from a particular source. This allows you to keep up with current events while you're travelling, in case there's a specific event or you don't have time to read the newspaper, while also targeting your areas of interest. The artificial intelligence feature thereby saves you time by providing targeted news. You can also skip to the next news item using a simple voice command, as well as explore the news item in more depth or merely catch up on the main headlines.

• Launching an app

With the voice command feature, all you have to do is say "open xxx" or "start xxx" to launch an app. This saves you from having to find the app on your phone then launch it manually.

• Planning your day

Another useful everyday feature is managing your diary and events. The voice assistant lets you view your tasks or appointments for the day, set reminders or a timer, add items to your diary, etc. Want to set a specific time to wake up? Just tell the assistant what time you want to be out of bed. This is a very practical feature for boosting your productivity and making sure you never forget anything!

• Managing your phone

Voice assistants also let you use your voice to change the settings on your phone, without ever touching the device: muting the sound, turning on the battery saver, etc.

• Accessing your leisure

Assistants also help you with your leisure activities, whether it's playing a song or video, listening to the radio or a podcast on your mobile or finding games. You can also use an assistant to find a photo and even record a video very discreetly!

Maybe you don't know just how smart assistants can be? Just ask it "What can you do?" and see what's available!

The smart home and Google Assistant

Giving commands to an assistant isn't just restricted to your phone. In a smart home, the assistant can help you control smart devices (speakers, the TV, roller blinds, etc.), adjust the heating or the intensity of the lighting, etc. Indeed, many smart home devices are compatible with assistants and voice control. It's a new way to communicate with your environment.

The speaker included in the assistant, another smart device, allows you to use it wherever you are in your home! Discover all our products

Privacy and data access

To be able to use as many commands as possible and answer your questions effectively, voice assistants need to have access to as much information as possible: your contacts, diary, search history, news sources, etc. Nevertheless, you can choose what type of access you give them and can change your preferences at any time.

Setting up the tool

This feature is available on Android and iPhone phones and tablets. Your phone must run Android 5.0 or a later version, or iOS 10 or later.
To launch it, long-press the home button or say "OK Google" if you've already activated voice commands. You then just have to teach it to recognise your voice and give it access to the necessary information to start using it!